This Could Be Us

by Kennedy Ryan

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

With a steamy romance, beautifully drawn characters and complex family dynamics, Kennedy Ryan delivers yet again with a heartfelt romance that digs into numerous emotional touchpoints. It’s the story of hope in the face of loss, and having the courage to try again.

An instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller, featured on The Today Show and CBS Mornings.

From the bestselling author of Before I Let Go, an empowering and sizzling novel about two single parents navigating the balance between sacrifice and their own happiness—perfect for readers of Tia Williams and Colleen Hoover. 

“Heart-searing, sensual, and life affirming.” ―Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who's never met a party she couldn't host or a charge she couldn't lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.  

But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She's too busy keeping a roof over her daughters' heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.  

But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn't want but can't seem to resist. She's lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?   After all she's lost ... and found ... can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?

"One of the finest romance writers of our age.” ―Entertainment Weekly

"A gorgeously grown-up romance and a story about self-love and reinvention ... a great novel for readers who appreciate multilayered romantic fiction with elements of domestic drama, scandal, and inspiration." ―NPR

Glamour: Best Books for Book Clubs

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538706848
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	03/05/2024
Series:	Skyland Series , #2
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. An EBONY Power 100 Honoree, Kennedy and her writings have been featured in NPR, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Glamour, Cosmo, TIME, and many others. Kennedy is an executive producer for her Skyland series, which is currently in development for television at Peacock. The cofounder of LIFT 4 Autism, an annual charitable book auction, Kennedy has a passion for raising Autism awareness. Dubbed the Queen of Hugs by her readers, she is a wife to her “lifetime lover” and mother to an extraordinary son.
 
Find out more, at:
KennedyRyanWrites.com
Facebook.com/KennedyRyanAuthor
Bluesky: @kennedyryan.bsky.social
Instagram: @KennedyRyan1
TikTok: @KennedyRyanAuthor

Editorial Reviews

2024-03-23
A woman has to pick up the pieces after her husband’s betrayal.

Soledad Barnes met her husband, Edward, when they were both students at Cornell. Sixteen years into their marriage, Edward is a successful executive, Soledad is a homemaker, and they live in a beautiful Atlanta house with their three daughters. Soledad senses something is wrong with her marriage, but she’s unprepared for the devastating truth: Edward embezzled millions of dollars from his company and he’s having an affair with the assistant who helped him. Edward refuses to take the blame for his own behavior, blaming Judah Cross, the forensic accountant who discovered and reported his crime. Soledad’s choices are limited, so she divorces Edward in order to save her home and protect her girls. With the support of her best friends and her sisters, Soledad slowly begins to rebuild her life financially and emotionally. She works as an influencer, sharing the recipes and household tips she developed over the years as a stay-at-home mother. The propulsive opening highlights Soledad’s transition from a wife worried about her marriage to a mother with a steely determination to keep her family together. Judah, who has been divorced for four years and shares custody of his autistic twin sons with his wife in an amiable, healthy co-parenting arrangement, is romantically interested in Soledad, but she asks for time to work on herself. Blandly likable Judah is the opposite of the cartoonishly evil Edward in every way—caring, financially stable, and a devoted father. Ryan excels in creating angsty, even melodramatic stories, and this novel is no exception. However, the book’s focus waffles between Soledad’s healing journey and her blossoming romance with Judah, which fragments and dissipates the energy of the plot.

This portrait of a woman in crisis is stuck between romance and mainstream fiction.

Kirkus Reviews